Nanoheterogeneity in PEO/PMMA blends probed by 129Xe-NMR

Xenon has been used as a structural probe of solid poly(ethylene oxide)/atactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PEO/PMMA) blends of concentrations 10/90 to 75/25. 129Xe-NMR spectra at 293 K show significant changes in line width and chemical shift as the blend composition is varied. The 129Xe spectra are interpreted in terms of exchange between amorphous single-phase PEO and PMMA domains. It is shown that a simple two-site exchange model can be used to calculate spectra which fit the experimental data over the whole concentration range. Xe exchange between blend subregions is demonstrated also by a two-dimensional NMR experiment. The PEO/PMMA results are compared to previously published poly(vinylidene fluoride)/PMMA 129Xe spectra. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 35: 2681–2688, 1997